Numbers - Easy Learning Grammar

There are two common kinds of number:Cardinal numbers are used in all forms of counting that involve a total.

onechair

twochairs

a hundredpeople

ten thousandpounds

Ordinal numbers are used to talk about where something is placed in an ordered sequence. They are often used right after the definite article or after a possessive.

The firsthorse in was disqualified.

He’s celebratinghisfifty-firstbirthday in August.

The company has just celebratedits one hundred and fiftiethanniversary.

Ordinals are mostly formed by adding -th to a cardinal number.

fourth

twentieth

hundredth

fifth

forty-ninth

millionth

sixth

eighty-sixth

thousandth

nine hundred and ninety ninth

Some examples of exceptions are the words first, second, and third, and combinations which contain them, such as twenty-first.Cardinal numbers can be used at the beginning of a noun phrase, like determiners.

onechair

twochairs

a hundredpeople

ten thousandpounds

or on their own, like pronouns.

And then there werethree.

Fourof them came towards us.

The othertwowent to get help.

Grammatically speaking, the words next, last, and another can also be regarded as ordinal numbers.

It rained onthelastday of our holiday.

Thenexthorse in was declared the winner.

Oh no, notanotherbirthday!

Ordinal numbers and the words next and last are sometimes called postdeterminers, since they come after the word the or a possessive .

Thenextthree days are going to be very exciting.

Thelastthree years have been difficult for everyone.

We have to get off the bus at thenextstop.

An ordinal, as well as next, last, and another, can be used together with a cardinal number in the same noun phrase.

Thefirst threecorrect entries will win a prize.

He scoredanother threegoals before the end of the match.

To show that a cardinal number is only approximate, the word, some is often used before it.